The Mask of Darkness
by Link of the Hyrulians
Summary: “What if I told you, Link, that the Mask of Truth was not the only mask the Sheikah gave power to?” A tale of Sheikan legend, entwining with the fate of the Hero of Time.
1. Chapter 1

"What if I told you, Link, that the Mask of Truth was not the only mask the Sheikah gave power to?"

The Mask of Darkness has been found, and manifested into physical form. Although the Hero of Time changed the fate of Hyrule, he did not have the power to change his own destiny.

* * *

The Hero of Time slid off his roan horse, turning around to stroke her mane fondly, patting her neck.

"Who's a good girl? Who's a good girl? _You're_ a good girl. Yes you are!_ Yes you are!_" Epona turned her head to look at him curiously and whinnied, scuffing the ground with her hoof.

"Oh puh-lease," cut in Navi the fairy, shooting out from under his hat and hovering above the water before taking a deep breath and extending her arms in a teepee above her head, skimming through the water. Link smiled and watched her go, her blue aura attracting the fish nearby.

"That fairy's going to get eaten one day…" he muttered to his steed, smiling as he sighed and reclined in the grass of Lake Hylia.

It had been an easy day in the fields, hunting without success. It was a little too hot to really try to catch anything. The aim of the game was not to find dinner- they had all too much of that in the castle- but to take a break from a royal life. Staying at a palace wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Sure there was a room with a view, and anything you wanted, but the trouble was Link didn't really want _anything_ anymore. Since he had defeated Ganondorf, his life had suddenly seemed a whole lot more empty. His spirit was restless. No more running, no more fighting, no more skeletons to fight or sages to free, just a normal life. It was murder.

Link spent his days causing a healthy dose of mischief here and there, but generally looking for ways to improve his skills at, well, anything. He could easily smash all 10 ruppees in the target game, bombchus skidded effortlessly across walls to impossible targets, and as he grew older, he found himself a master swordsman. With all the extra years to practice, it was hardly surprising. Even the _Gerudo_ had trouble keeping up with him, and it took three of them at once to take him down. He and Epona, having been reunited as quickly as the Princess would allow, became the best of friends in a week, and he could swear the horse could read his mind. She seemed to know _exactly_ when to turn, without him giving any indication, and how fast to travel for his arrows to hit their mark. They were an unstoppable team.

Link sighed and crawled to the water's edge, away from Epona who was swallowing great gulps of water after galloping under the harsh sun for the past few hours. Peering down into his reflection critically, he noticed he was forever changing. His face seemed a little firmer than it had been the day before, his figure remaining lithe, but firm. He still donned his familiar green tuke and tunic, despite the odd looks he got from everyone. Goddess how Zelda had pleaded with him to dress regally, but how could he surrender the only clothes he had ever known to wear? Green was a pretty colour, after all!

He sighed to himself, brushing his golden bangs behind his slender, pointed ears to examine his eyes. They were sapphire blue and majestic in their own way. Not quite royalty, but… something seemed to resonate from them. An honesty that distinguished him from the Hyrulians. Those eyes could spot a keese fifty metres away, (and peg it with an arrow, too), or find the largest fish in the pond with ease. But the longer he looked into his reflection, the more something seemed to trouble him. There was something else in his eyes… something unfamiliar. A sadness… a pain… something stirring in the water.

He leaned closer to it, until his breath cast tiny ripples on the lake's surface, searching for whatever it was that haunted him. The longer he looked, the longer his features seemed to blend together into a shade of inky darkness. A shadow began to creep across his skin until every party of him was coal black. His eyes flashed crimson, like flames, and his black lips pulled into a vicious smile.

"What the…"

His reflection leapt out of the water, grabbing his throat and throwing him to the grass. Link gasped for breath in vain as Dark Link gripped him tighter still, slowly choking the life out of him. He grabbed the black arms that pinned him down and struggled to break the lethal grip, but his hands were slowly going numb as ice seemed to ripple from the shade's body.

"Link? Link!" Navi, having apparently finished her dip with the fishes suddenly realised the urgency of the situation and shot through the air towards Epona in order to get a weapon of some sort. She wasn't strong enough to lift his sword from the saddle. Hell, she wasn't even big enough for the stallion to notice her. Panicking, she burned a fierce shade of yellow, sparks streaming from her body. The horse looked up from its grass and suddenly noticed what appeared to be an angry shooting star flying around her head.

"Get to Link! Help him Epona, help him!" she shot towards the battle, illuminating it in a cascade of yellow, and in slightly more than a second, the steed had started a canter. Moments later, she charged down Dark Link, sending the demon flying with her powerful hooves. As his horse galloped past, Link swung himself onto her back and drew his sword with a painful gasp, rubbing his raw throat gingerly. He spared himself the strength to focus on one conscious thought;

"What was going on?"

The rider and stallion galloped around in a wide arc to return to the nightmare. With a hiss of anguish, Dark Link staggered to his feet, looking up just in time to see the flash of a blade and feel a streak of searing pain across his torso. Falling back to the ground with what could have been a gasp, it glared loathingly at Link, who had turned once more.

"Jeez, this guy doesn't die easily, does he?" he thought to himself, almost absent mindedly as he reared Epona, climbing off her back and advancing on his fallen assailant. He paused for a moment, wondering if it was worth the risk to ask it what the hell it was doing alive when he had already killed him in the water temple, but then reversed the grip on his hilt, raising it above his head to deliver the coup de grace. Dark Link spoke before the sword could fall though, and said six words that made his blood freeze.

"_I'll see you again soon kid,"_ it hissed at him, vanishing in a cloud of black smoke just as Link's sword impaled the grass.

He stood, blinking for a moment before freeing his sword with a vicious tug. As he sheathed it, Navi floated onto the saddle and looked at him intently, before blurting

"What the hell was that about?"

* * *

Short, I know, but it's a start isn't it? I'll be taking quite a while if I do manage to update, because of a holiday to Singapore 3

At any rate, this is the first segment of The Mask of Darkness. Ooo, questions questions questions. We'll be finding some answers with the next chapter, and please, _please_ leave a review. Even if it's to tell me it sucks, I would appreciate it a great deal. Please? )

Link of the Hylians


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. I've been completely put off writing for the past two weeks, and I know you've been waiting about two, three months. I wouldn't be quite as audacious to say it was worth the wait, but I at least hope you can forgive me with promises to write the next chapter soon. I also apologise for the horizontal lines that appear halfway through- asterix' wouldn't work, nor any other indicator, so I was forced to use an alternative. Nevertheless,I must admit, this chapter was rather hard for me to write- never did like writing things that weren't action packed, or at least packed with intense symbolism. Ladies and gentlemen, Chapter 2."

* * *

Who else to consult in time of need, other than the Sage of Sages, Hylian Seer, and Princess of the whole kingdom? Good old Zelda.

"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down there. You said… Dark Link? You're sure?"

"Sure? Well… I have to admit, I didn't get to see his face all that well. I mean, it could have been anyone with demonic eyes and robed entirely in shadows, right?"

"Link," she said reprovingly. "Well then… this is… disturbing."

"Tell me about it," Link sighed, running a hand through his hair, breathing deeply. "Do you have any idea what's going on?"

The sage hesitated for a moment, her eyes contemplating deeply on what, or how much she should tell him. The Sheikan secrets were not easily betrayed…

"Princess…" he tried. "Zelda, please. I need to know why I was just attacked by something I've already killed." She bit her lip for a moment then turned to look at him, speaking slowly.

"What if I told you, Link, that the Mask of Truth was not the only mask the Sheikah gave power to?"

"Wait- there are other masks like mine?"

Impa, the loyal bodyguard and nanny (so to speak) of the Princess cut in.

"Not like yours, no. Now that I think about it, it's not actually yours anyway. You're 'borrowing' it, remember?" The Sheikah spoke with the barest hint of what could be amusement.

"Oh come on, you know as well as I do that guy doesn't exactly 'borrow' masks himself, does he?"

"Link, you know what that mask can do, don't you?" interrupted Zelda before they had another one of their fights. They could last for _days_…

"What has the Mask of Truth got to do with this?" cut in Navi, perched on Link's shoulder and tilting her head slightly.

"Everything," replied Zelda. "Tell me what you know about it Link."

"Well, it makes my head look like a battering ram, and whoever painted it was colourblind. Aside from that, all I know is that it lets you talk to the gossip stones that are scattered around Hyrule. And you can read people's minds, to a limited extent"

"Good." Though she hadn't moved a muscle, Impa's expression softened slightly. "Time for a history lesson."  
"Swell," he murmured under his breath.

"Back in the days of the Great War, the Sheikah were… secretive."

"No surprises there…" he thought to himself, but thought it wise to keep silent. As if reading his thoughts, which she probably was by the way, Zelda frowned at him and folded her arms.

"Link, if you wish to survive your next encounter with Dark Link, I suggest you pay attention to this. You need to know what you're up against." Something in her voice seemed to kill the moment, and it scared him. He opened his mouth to reply, but closed it and nodded. Impa continued.

"Now, back in the days of the Great War, the Sheikah were seriously outnumbered. Of all the races in Hyrule, we were the most exclusive, for our arts were of the highest degree. Since the beginning of our race, we have served the royal family, and in the service of the King in the war, our main job was to protect the king, and to go on missions against those who opposed his highness. Spying, assassination, sabotage. That sort of thing. With me so far?" Link nodded, imagining all the Gorons, Zorans and Gerudo that died at the hands of a Sheikan blade. The Great War had almost halved Hyrule's population…

"As Sheik would have taught you, our tribe has had some interesting skills. Vanishing in a flash of light is probably our most famous. We enchanted the Lens of Truth, banished undead spirits, (or the Poes as you know them), and could create objects that, to the naked eye appeared to be solid, but were in actual fact illusions. In the same respect, we could limit visibility until an object appeared invisible altogether. The Shadow Temple would be our finest example, though of course not all that many people have lived to appreciate it."  
"No one other than me, in other words," said Link.  
"Bingo," smiled the Sheikah.

"So we used these skills, and a few others here and there, to complete our missions," continued Zelda. "After a few weeks of the war, things started going wrong. People went missing on duty. Missions failed. A team of Gerudos managed to get all the way into the throne room before they were intercepted. There was only one possible answer: there was a traitor amongst the Sheikah."

Link nodded slowly, seeing where this was going.

"Our council spent days pondering how to catch him, until they finally came up with a magical solution."

Slowly, Link reached into the pouch at his hip and pulled it out, setting it on the table before them.

"The Mask of Truth," Impa said. "I was the first to try it on," she said, her voice icy.

"What?" exclaimed Zelda, Navi and Link simultaneously.

"You… You fought in the Great War?" asked Zelda slowly.

"Yes child. I did," she said indifferently. "The lives of those I'd taken haunted me at night, until I learned to conquer the Shadows."

"Impa, what do you mean you were the first to try it on?" pressed Link.

"It was a prototype, obviously. Objects with such a high concentration of magic could be dangerous, and I was chosen to be its first guinea pig. Fortunately, it didn't suck my soul out or anything. It just knocked me unconscious for three days."

Zelda gaped, but Link was curious.

"So what exactly did the mask do to you before they managed to perfect it?"

"Well, as it was designed to sense dark intentions, that's all it showed me. I saw the black hearts and darkest desires of all my friends, and every sin they had ever committed. I was still a child at the time, and it scared me to the point I thought I had crossed over to the plains of hell." The words hung in the air as a shadow seemed to cross over Impa's eyes. "Part of that magic remains with me, and I do not need the Mask to know if I can trust someone. Zelda, why don't you explain to Link about the other Masks?"

"Oh… Yes, ah…" she paused, recovering from the initial impact of the information Impa had revealed. It seemed the Sheikah kept secrets, even from each other.

"Right, erm… The… Sheikah realised the potential of storing so much magic in a mask. They made a few more prototypes, even when the war was over. These weren't entirely passive masks either. The Zoran's Mask, the Goron's, those masks that you know to exist in the Happy Mask Shop. They're cheap imitations of the real things, which could actually _transform_ your physical state to match the mask itself. There was even one for Deku scrubs."

"Okay, fair enough. So we had magical transforming masks. What was so evil about that?"

"Link, I'm not done yet!" scowled Zelda. "Besides. No power is evil, until it is used for evil. There were some… some powerful masks that were created without the Sheikah's consent. The Mask of Deception was made so that whoever was speaking would seem to be telling the truth, no matter what they said. The Bunny Hood that improved agility a thousand fold. The Giant's Mask was self explanatory. There was the Stone Mask which could camouflage you- perfect for espionage. There was even one known as the Fierce Diety Mask, that could turn the wearer into a demi-god for a short while. One mask was so evil, Majora's Mask, that the creator became so scared he sealed it away forever. Unfortunately, that was in the previous age ago, and there are no records of where it was buried or what it is capable of. While we are still searching for it, there is still a chance that someone who doesn't know what it's capable of could find it first."

"Link, what I'm trying to say is, these masks were dangerous. All kinds of hell broke loose, and when the sources were used discovered, they were hidden by magic. They've been scattered all over the world. Given to people the Sheikah can trust. However, Dark Link's reappearance has… unsettled us."

"Yeah, me too," said Link, almost absent-mindedly rubbing the bruises on his neck. "What are you getting at though? I know what these masks can do, but what are you saying?"

"Link," said Impa slowly. "We believe that the Mask of Darkness has been found. It turns a person's soul so black that it consumes them, and they become a shade in this realm, and a demon in the next. It gives them a sick craving for power until they know nothing other than death, and how to deliver it. A shade… cannot die. It can be defeated in battle, and it will burn in the flames it was born from, but nothing short of a Light Arrow to the heart will smite one. It is our belief that Dark Link has returned to finish what he started." His mind was reeling.

Dark Link had returned? A shade? Virtually invincible and out to kill him?

"Ung…" he groaned. "Why me?"  
"Because, Link," answered Zelda, looking into his eyes. "You are the hero of time. If it were not you, it would be many other innocents." He lowered his head as her words swam about his head, stubbornly refusing to leave. He couldn't let go of the idea that it was his _destiny_ to suffer so much for everyone else's sake, but the words seemed to fit together like pieces of a puzzle, and he could not deny their validity.

"So remind me. Why is Dark Link trying to kill me now? And how did he materialise in the water?"

"Haven't a clue," said Impa, folding her arms and staring intently at the wall.

"To answer your second question, I need to know something first. When you first saw and fought Dark Link, what was your initial impression? Did you look into his eyes? Did he hurt you?"

He blinked as he thought back to the Water Temple, trying intently to remember what had happened that night.

"I…"

* * *

"_Hm…White," thought Link, surveying the silvery mist that shrouded the room._

"_Acute observation," replied Navi from his shoulder._

"_Hey, stop reading my thoughts. They're none of your business, anyway."_

"_Just like it wasn't any of your business to go through Mido's underwear and use it as a flag for the Kokiri."_

"_Hey! How did you know about that?"  
"I know all," she replied in a mysterious voice. He scowled and just tried to stop thinking entirely._

"_Like _that's_ hard," Navi murmured, flying above ahead of him to try and spread some light through the mist._

"_Huh? Hey, Link! Er… Check this out!"  
"What?" he said, drawing his sword nervously and stepping through the ankle-deep water. As he approached, a wall loomed out from the mist, and a barred door was in the middle of it. Bars. Swell. The room was entirely puzzle-less and enemy-less, and he was locked in._

"_Link, it's cold in here…" said Navi, shivering a little._

"_Yeah, and it's not cold in water a hundred feet below the surface?" he answered sardonically, but despite himself, he shivered too. There were some bad vibes about this place._

"_Anyway, if you're scared, we'd better get going so you don't freak out on me or anything…" said Link, backing away. "Just because you're such a wimp and all…" he said, then spun on his heel and collided headfirst with a tree._

"_Whoa…" said Link, swallowing, backing up. "Navi… er… did we happen to pass a tree and an island on our way in?"_

"_I er… don't think so…" she said, kicking it with one foot nervously._

"_Oh," said Link._

_An ebony blur lunged towards him, and he had just enough time to swear before leaping backwards, his legs swinging over his head as he back-flipped as a reflex. Not a moment too soon either, as a sword made of black steel sliced through the air at such a speed is momentarily parted the water below. Pulling the shield off his back, he raised his sword to block another lunge that caused his arm to tremble with the force. Link threw his assailant off and slashed, but a black sword was already in place for a parry._

"_Goddess this guy is fast," he swore, ramming the… _thing_ with his shield. Now that he thought about it, it looked familiar. Then again, he didn't have much time to think. _

_Link could hear a little voice inside his head screaming at him to not be so predictable. He then registered it was Navi.  
"Idiot, don't just stand there, move your feet!" she screamed._

"_You have to learn to conquer yourself!" What? What was she on about?_

_Block, parry, swing, duck, counter… Link shut out the rest of the world as he dueled furiously. "That thing is definitely familiar…" The thought nagged at him. There was something about the technique. Though he had yet to see his opponent's face, that hat was definitely familiar…It looked silly. Then it struck.  
"Hey. You're me!" said Link brightly, beaming at his brilliance. Then he scowled, realising he had insulted his own fashion sense. The thing hissed in reply, grinning back and made a lunge which was a little-too-close for comfort. True enough, he was fighting a solid black version of himself with scarlet eyes._

"_So... I'm fighting myself. At least I know what I'm up against," he thought as he knocked aside Dark Link's sword, only to be rammed by his shield. The blow stunned him a little, and he stumbled backwards into the tree. This was going to be a tough battle. They were dead even, and neither combatant was giving way._

"_What are my weaknesses?" thought Link, rolling out of the way as the shade's sword impaled the bark. Link took advantage of the opening and jumped behind him, bringing his sword down as he went. The blade slit open his enemy's back from shoulder to hip, but wrenching the sword out of the tree, Dark Link spun around and continued his relentless assault, hissing with each breath._

"_Damn!" thought Link, gritting his teeth as the black sword slit his arm. "New plan."_

_In one fluid movement, he sheathed his sword and returned his shield, cupping his hands at his waist._

"_LINK!" screamed Navi, sparking red for a moment in fear, but Link's concentration was on the spell._

"_Come on…" he thought, searching for the faint traces that ran through his veins. Closing his eyes, he found a tendril of magic at the back of his mind, and instantly unlocked it.  
"Din's Fire!" he screamed, plunging the newly formed fireball into the ground. Instantly, he was surrounded by a ball of flame that was rapidly increasing in diameter. Dark Link had no time to escape and howled in pain, vanishing in a wisp of black smoke._

_Link panted, the steam making it hard to breathe. He closed his eyes and groaned, doubling over._

"_I hate myself," he moaned, gingerly touching his blood-soaked sleeve._

"_Link, look out!" Navi cried before he had time to react. As a reflex, he pulled the shield off his back and ducked down to cover his head. A clang of metal on metal told him that he hated himself as much as he hated himself. If that made sense. It probably didn't, but right now, he had more to worry about than grammar._

_Drawing his sword, he made a few slashes, and Dark Link bobbed away from him._

"_Come and get me," he said, vanishing again. Link ground his teeth, backing away to the island in the middle of the room. Navi circled nervously, flitting here and there and chittering about satanic water demons gone wrong. Link just growled and raised his sword. Navi burst into yellow flame and shot behind him, making Link spin around and parry in the same move. He grunted as their swords crossed in an X, and they tried their hardest to force through each other's weakness and gain the advantage. Unfortunately, they were both equally determined to make sure that was the other._

_Link's arm trembled as he strained to move it away from him. He looked into the eyes of his enemy's. Dark Link grinned suddenly, leaning closer until the Hero could feel his chilly breath. Link tried to break eye contact, but he was being held in place by the gaze, and for a moment he was lost in the crimson. _He saw flashes of fire, burning fiercely_… Raging. Something's not right… Link felt a flash of pain and screamed as Dark Link brought the swords closer to him. _There was... there was Darkness… _Link's sword was coming closer, and he was quickly enervating. Every second that passed, his own trembling sword was moving closer. _He felt hatred… Confusion. There were voices…

"_Link!" screamed Navi, flinging herself at Dark Link's face. He snarled as she blinded him with sparks, and with that one moment of distraction, Link threw him off and raised his sword above his head. With a battle cry, he brought the blade down on Dark Link's neck, cutting diagonally down and slicing his torso in two. The halves both fell into the water, and for a moment, Dark Link stared up in disbelief. Link stood, panting over his fallen opponent. It hissed suddenly, screaming as it dissipated. Green flames leapt over its body until all that left was the water, stained black with ash. Link collapsed against the tree._

"_Goddess _damn!_"_

* * *

"Link?" asked Zelda, reaching out and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Huh?" said Link, looking up at her.

"We need to know what happened when you fought Dark Link."

"I… I don't know exactly. There was a moment when… when we looked at each other… I saw fire. I felt pain that wasn't mine. I heard voices that weren't there. Worst of all, I felt… _malice_…"

Zelda turned around and looked at her guardian. Impa was deep in thought, her eyes narrowed in concern. She looked up at them.

"We're going to need to see some friends of mine. Come on, both of you. Sheik-," she called, but Zelda had already transformed in a burst of light. Before them, sitting pertly on her chair, was the Sheikah adolescent with ruby eyes. Sweeping to his feet, he held the door open.

"What are you waiting for?" came his sly voice. Link smiled, punching his arm as he passed.

"Boys," muttered Impa, giving Sheik a shove in the back and closing the door behind her. She hoped her friends would be happy to see her. She sure as hell wouldn't be.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

Dear readers,

I am terribly inconsistent with my writing, I know. I don't have any real excuse, so I won't try to invent one. I just apologise grievously for being so lazy, but I'll try and keep working on this fic a little more urgently. I've had other projects on my mind, but I beg for pardon, both for the negligence of my authoring, and the shortness of this chapter!

--

Link of the Hylians

* * *

"So who are these friends of yours?" Link asked for the umpteenth time.

"You'll find out when we get there," replied Impa for the umpteenth time plus one.

"Just give up Link," said Sheik, sighing to himself. "You must have realised by now that she's never going to tell you."

"Well if I realised that, I wouldn't keep asking, would I? Impa, who are we meeting?" he persisted digilently with that daring grin of his.

"Save it," she answered briefly. "Let's rest here."

The three of them had been riding for the better part of the morning across the grassy plains of Hyrule Field, the sun shining hotly on their backs as they headed (what Link realised to be) westwards. Impa's mount was a pure white mare named Angelic Shadow- the same horse that had carried her and the Princess from the castle when Ganondorf had chased them, years previous. She was a brave creature, and well-bred from the castle's finest. Zelda rode a brown thoroughbred, whose name was Ravek. He was a present from Lon Lon Ranch when Talon got choked up about the royal family coming to congratulate him for the fine milk he had supplied the castle for years. Truth be told, Zelda was just curious about this red-headed farm girl Link had told her about, and it was with some jealousy she brought herself to meet her. Of course, Malon wasn't near anything she had expected her to be, and after Malon's laughter melted the icy resolve of the princess, decided she needn't have her executed.

Link more than welcomed the break when they finally came to a stop. His legs were sore and tense from the long hours on the saddle, and gladly stumbled off it. Epona thirstily lowered her head to drink from the brook they had stopped at, whilst the Hero of Time collapsed on the grass with a sigh. Though his throat was parched, he furrowed his eyebrows a little anxiously, reflecting for a moment.

"What if he attacks again?" he thought nervously, tensing a little.

"He won't," whispered Navi in his ear, zipping out from under his hat to hover above the water. She dipped a foot in, sending tiny ripples across the surface to check, just in case. Grateful for the support, but not enough to be set off guard, Link drew his sword and crawled closer to the stream. Holding his breath, he leaned over the clear water's surface, but saw only his own tired face. No shadows, no demons, no sweat. He breathed out.

A hand settled on his shoulder, causing him to yelp and spin around, swinging his sword as he did.

"Farore!" said Sheik, leaping back as the blade cut off a few loose bandages from his uniform. "Watch where you point that thing!" he cursed, picking up the strips of cloth sorely.

"Nayru! Sorry Sheik!" Link gasped, dropping the weapon.

"It's… It's fine," the Sheikah answered, gasping for breath. "But don't worry so much. Dark Link isn't going to attack while the Sage of Shadow and I are around," he said, putting another, slightly more reassuring hand on his shoulder, and offering a small smile through his bandages.

"Can you say 'jumpy'?" said Impa, hinting another grin as she knelt and filled her canteen from the river. Link scowled, picking up his sword and replacing it in its scabbard as he climbed to his feet, making towards Epona.

Pulling out her brush, he groomed her absent-mindedly as she inspected him with a large brown eye.

"Will it always be like this girl?" he asked her. "Always on edge, always waiting for an attack?"

"When has it not been?" said Navi, fluttering to his side and settling on his shoulder once again. She did her best to rub his back with one tiny arm. It tickled, making Link giggle a little. Just a little, but he felt about brick load raise off his chest.

"I don't know Navi. I just hoped that… Once I had put and end to Ganondorf's reign… Would it have been so much to ask for a normal life?" he sighed.

"You're the Hero of Time, Link. It's your job to keep Hyrule safe and happy. There is no normal life, because there is no Hyrule without you to defend it."

He sighed again. He hated this talk. He'd heard it so many times from so many people for so many reasons. When the Great Deku Tree asked him if he was ready, all those years ago, why did he agree? He was armed with a sword he could barely hold, and a slab of wood for protection. Why oh why did he say yes?

"Because in your heart, you knew you had to," Navi smiled sadly.

"When I first saw you, that lazy, innocent boy who refused to get out of bed at 10 in the morning, I didn't want to bring you to the Deku Tree, because I knew you were going to play a part in defeating Ganondorf. I knew you would enter a life of pain and misery, beyond any teasing the Kokiri could subject you to. But I did it anyway."

"You had to do it, to prevent that pain and misery from reaching everyone else," Link finished for her. He smiled, a little heavily, and pulled his fairy friend closer to him, nuzzling her softly with his cheek.

"Thanks Navi."

She smiled, blinking a tear from her eye and slipped back into his hat as he swung himself onto his horse. The two Sheikah looked up at him curiously.

He unsheathed his sword, pointing it to the heavens above before aiming it in front of him.

"Ready or not," he grinned. "Onwards!"

Epona whinnied in pleasure, rearing up and galloping fervently from the moment her hoofs touched the ground.

"Hey Link, wait up!" called Sheik, leaping to his feet. Impa had not wasted time trying to call him back and had rather just leapt onto her own horse. As she rode past, she grabbed the back of her pupil's uniform and lifted him onto his horse.

"You should have learned to save your breath by now Princess!" she called as she drove her heels into her mount in an effort to catch up. Sheik laughed and slapped Ravek's rump, chasing after the two of them without a care in the world, forgetting for a moment the many burdens she had been carrying on behalf of her people.

* * *

"Man, you got creamed," Link panted, leaning over Epona's neck and trying to catch his breath.

"Bull!" shot back the Sheikah. "I would have beaten you if I hadn't turned around to tease you!"

"And let Ravek miss the jump," he shot back with a huge grin. "Man, the look on your face when he bucked you off…" He burst out laughing again.

Sheik didn't waste time arguing, leaping off her mount and tackling the Hero of Time off his horse. He didn't even see it coming.

Impa pulled up beside the two as they grappled ferociously on the grass. She drew her sword and whacked both of them over the head with the flat as she scowled.

"Would you try let go of each other's throats for any more than a few seconds? Every time someone turns their back, you're always at it! If you're not fighting over who be who in a horserace, you're fighting over who beat who at an archery competition. Or a bombchu competition. Or any sort of competition. Give it a rest, would you?"

The two rubbed their heads sorely, and Link muttered,

"He started it."

Impa's sword banged against his fingers as Sheik burst out laughing.

"Oh pull yourself together," she muttered. It was tough work being a nanny. "We're just about here, anyway," she finished, the serious tone creeping back into her voice.

It had been a few long, painful days of horse-races, archery competitions and bombchu attacks. Impa never said where they were going- she just promised to tell them when they got there. They had crept around the side of Hyrule, past Lake Hylia and across the fields to have finally stopped, for good, at the entrance to the Gerudo Valley. The grass seemed to almost melt into the red, dusty Earth that marked the path to the Fortress.

"Impa…" called Link, rising to his feet. "You're not serious are you?" She didn't reply as the stared, stonily into the ravine that led to the bridge. The sun was just setting on the horizon, and it would not be wise to sleep through another night of Stalchildren.

"Move it," she said, digging her heels into Angelic Shadow. Sheik swallowed and exchanged a glance with Link.

"Come on," he said, patting Link on the back and sweeping onto Ravek. Mounting Epona, the two of them followed the Sage of Shadow, wondering what dark secret lay behind her eyes.


End file.
